Source: US says Ukraine can hit inside Russia ‘anywhere’ its forces attack across the border – POLITICO
The U.S. has told Ukraine it can use American-supplied weapons to hit any Russian forces attacking from across the border — not just those in the region near Kharkiv, according to U.S. officials.
The subtle shift in messaging — which officials insist is not a change in policy — comes just weeks after the U.S. quietly gave Kyiv the green light to strike inside Russia in response to a cross-border assault on the city of Kharkiv. At the time, U.S. officials stressed that the policy was limited to the Kharkiv region, among other restrictions.
Ukrainian forces have since used American weapons to strike into Russia at least once, destroying targets in the city of Belgorod, and managed to hold back the Russian assault. But Ukrainian and other European officials have pressed the U.S. to loosen its restrictions even further, allowing Ukraine to strike anywhere inside Russia.
据美国官员称，美国已告诉乌克兰，乌克兰可以使用美国提供的武器来打击从边境另一边发起攻击的任何俄罗斯军队，而不仅仅是哈尔科夫附近地区的俄罗斯军队。 消息传递上的微妙转变——官员们坚称这并不是政策的变化——就在几周前，美国悄悄批准基辅对俄罗斯境内发动攻击，以回应针对哈尔科夫市的跨境袭击。当时，美国官员强调，该政策除其他限制外，仅限于哈尔科夫地区。 此后，乌克兰军队至少一次使用美国武器攻击俄罗斯，摧毁了别尔哥罗德市的目标，并成功阻止了俄罗斯的进攻。但乌克兰和其他欧洲官员已向美国施压，要求其进一步放松限制，允许乌克兰攻击俄罗斯境内的任何地方。
